Bird baths or drinking fountains are utilized to attract birds and other small animals to visible locations, usually in the yards of home owners in order that the home owners and guest may enjoy the presence of such wildlife. Generally, such baths or fountains, referred to generally herein as "bird baths," consist of a bowl or tray for retaining a quantity of water. However, such devices require frequent refilling. Other devices such as shown in U.S. Pat. No(s). 1,010,543, 1,252,935, and 1,566,571 all disclose bird baths which provide a separate reservoir for replenishing the water in the tray. In these devices, an elevated reservoir of water refills the tray through a port which is located at the desired water level of the tray. When the water level in the tray falls to a position near the upper edge of the port, a pressure differential between ambient air and a slight vacuum in the reservoir may draw a small quantity of ambient air into the reservoir through the port and displace a corresponding amount of water from the reservoir into the tray until a balanced condition results with the water level in the tray submerging the port.
Bird baths are normally designed for either suspension from an overhead member, such as the branch of a tree, or for mounting on a vertical member such as a metal post. Heretofore, a single such device has not been adaptable for mounting using both of the foregoing configurations.
Bird baths which have elevated reservoirs present certain problems when they are suspended from an overhead member such as a tree branch because the weight of the water in the elevated reservoir raises the center of gravity of the device above the upper portions of the tray. Previous efforts to suspend bird baths having an elevated reservoir have utilized preshaped metal parts which contribute a substantial amount of additional weight to the bird bath and are expensive to manufacture. It would be desirable to provide a single bird bath configuration which may be mounted either on top of a pedestal or suspended from an elevated member. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide an inexpensive bird bath having a simplified and inexpensive means for mounting same on a pedestal, and suspending it from an elevated member.